Williams, Hoshide Complete MBSU Installation

 

Spacewalkers Aki Hoshide and Suni Williams work outside the International Space Station.
MBSU cleaning tools that were used during installation.

Flight Engineers Suni Williams and Aki Hoshide completed their second spacewalk in less than a week at 1:34 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 5. They completed the installation of a Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) that was hampered last week by a possible misalignment and damaged threads where a bolt must be placed. They also installed a camera on the International Space Station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2.

Flight Engineer Joe Acaba operated the Canadarm2 and monitored the spacewalkers from inside the International Space Station. Hoshide rode the Canadarm2 attached to a portable foot restraint to the MBSU worksite.

Wednesday’s spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 28 minutes.



Williams' and Hoshide's previous spacewalk on Aug. 30 lasted eight hours and 17 minutes making it the third longest in U.S. spaceflight history. It was originally scheduled for 6.5 hours before mission controllers and the astronauts struggled to install the MBSU.



Suni Williams surpassed Peggy Whitson during the Sept. 5 excursion for total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut. Whitson worked outside for 39 hours and 46 minutes over the course of six spacewalks. Williams has conducted six spacewalks for a total of 44 hours and 2 minutes.

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Team to be Honored

 

Rock fins up to about about 1 foot (30 centimeters) tall dominate this scene from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

This 360-degree panorama assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exporation Rover Opportunity shows terrain surrounding the position where the rover spent its 3,000th Martian day, or sol, working on Mars (July 2, 2012).
This 360-degree stereo panorama assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exporation Rover Opportunity shows terrain surrounding the position where the rover spent its 3,000th Martian day, or sol, working on Mars (July 2, 2012). PASADENA, Calif. -- The mission team for NASA's long-lived Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity will be awarded the Haley Space Flight Award. The team will receive the award Sept. 12 during the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space 2012 Conference and Exposition in Pasadena, Calif.
The award is presented for outstanding contributions by an astronaut or flight test personnel to the advancement of the art, science or technology of astronautics. Past recipients include Alan B. Shepard, John Glenn, Thomas Stafford, Robert Crippen, Kathryn Sullivan and the crew of space shuttle mission STS-125, which flew in 2009 on the last shuttle mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
The award citation praises the rover project's "new techniques in extraterrestrial robotic system operations to explore another world and extend mission lifetime." Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, will accept the award for the team.
"On behalf of the many hundreds of scientists and engineers who designed, built and operate these rovers, it is a great honor to accept this most prestigious award," Callas said. "It is especially gratifying that this comes right as Opportunity is conducting one of the most significant campaigns in the eight-and-a-half years since landing. We still are going strong, with perhaps the most exciting exploration still ahead."
In its eighth year operating on Mars, Opportunity is surveying a crater-rim outcrop of layered rock in search of clay minerals that could provide new information about a formerly wet environment. Spirit worked for more than six years -- until 2010 -- 24 times longer than its original three-month prime mission. In just the past two months, Opportunity has driven about a third of a mile (more than 525 meters), extending its total overland travel distance to 21.76 miles (35 kilometers). Recent drives along the inner edge of the Cape York segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater have brought the rover close to a layered outcrop in an area where clay minerals have been detected from orbit. These minerals could offer evidence of ancient, wet conditions with less acidity than the ancient, wet environments recorded at sites Opportunity visited during its first seven years on Mars.
Opportunity's position overlooking 14-mile-wide (22-kilometer-wide) Endeavour Crater is about 5,200 miles (8,400 kilometers) from where Curiosity, NASA's next-generation Mars rover, landed inside Gale Crater a month ago.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Colorful Colossi and Changing Hues

A giant of a moon appears before a giant of a planet undergoing seasonal changes in this natural color view of Titan and Saturn from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, measures 3,200 miles, or 5,150 kilometers, across and is larger than the planet Mercury. Cassini scientists have been watching the moon's south pole since a vortex appeared in its atmosphere in 2012. See PIA14919 and PIA14920 to learn more about this mass of swirling gas around the pole in the atmosphere of the moon.
As the seasons have changed in the Saturnian system, and spring has come to the north and autumn to the south, the azure blue in the northern Saturnian hemisphere that greeted Cassini upon its arrival in 2004 is now fading. The southern hemisphere, in its approach to winter, is taking on a bluish hue. This change is likely due to the reduced intensity of ultraviolet light and the haze it produces in the hemisphere approaching winter, and the increasing intensity of ultraviolet light and haze production in the hemisphere approaching summer. (The presence of the ring shadow in the winter hemisphere enhances this effect.) The reduction of haze and the consequent clearing of the atmosphere makes for a bluish hue: the increased opportunity for direct scattering of sunlight by the molecules in the air makes the sky blue, as on Earth. The presence of methane, which generally absorbs in the red part of the spectrum, in a now clearer atmosphere also enhances the blue.

Astronauts Complete Second Expedition 32 Spacewalk

Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide works outside the station during the second spacewalk of the Expedition 32 mission.
NASA Flight Engineer Sunita Williams and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide completed the second spacewalk of the Expedition 32 mission at 4:33 p.m. EDT Thursday, Aug. 30. They began the spacewalk at 8:16 a.m.

During the 8-hour, 17-minute spacewalk, Williams and Hoshide were unable to install a new Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) on the International Space Station’s s-zero truss. After removing and stowing the failed unit, the spacewalkers had difficulties driving the bolts to secure the replacement switching unit in the s-zero truss.

Williams and Hoshide used a long-duration tie-down tether to secure the replacement MBSU to the space station for a future spacewalk.

Prior to this task, Williams was able to successfully connect one of two power cables in preparation for the future arrival of a Russian laboratory module. The third objective, replacing a camera on the Canadarm2 robotic arm, was not completed.

The spacewalk was the fifth for Williams and the first for Hoshide. Hoshide is the third Japanese astronaut in history to conduct a spacewalk. The spacewalk was the 164th in support of station assembly and maintenance and was the first U.S.-based spacewalk since July 2011.

The first Expedition 32 spacewalk was performed by Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko on Aug. 20. The primary task during their 5-hour, 51-minute excursion was the move of the Strela-2 cargo boom from the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya module. Other tasks included the installation of micrometeoroid debris shields on the exter

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Space station astronauts Suni Williams and Aki Hoshide are working on one of today's major spacewalk tasks, replacing a Main Bus Switching Unit, one of four such units that route power to parts of the space station.

Photo: Space station astronauts Suni Williams and Aki Hoshide are working on one of today's major spacewalk tasks, replacing a Main Bus Switching Unit, one of four such units that route power to parts of the space station.

Reducing salt in your food can cut cancer risk

Cutting down on salty foods such as bread and breakfast cereals may reduce the risk of developing stomach cancer, a study has found.
Eating too much salt is not all about sprinkling it over fish and chips or Sunday lunch, the vast majority is already inside food.

WCRF, a UK charity that gives advice on how cancer can be prevented through diet, physical activity and weight, said that people should take less salt and the content of food should be labelled more clearly.
Too much salt is bad for blood pressure and can lead to heart disease and stroke, but it can also cause cancer, the 'BBC New' reported.
The recommended daily limit is 6 g, about a level teaspoonful, but the World Cancer Research Fund said people were eating 8.6 g a day.
Some food labels list the sodium content instead of the amount of salt sodium is a component of salt.
To work out how much salt a food contains, multiply the sodium content by 2.5.
"Stomach cancer is difficult to treat successfully because most cases are not caught until the disease is well established," Kate Mendoza, head of health information at WCRF, was quoted by the BBC News as saying.
"This places even greater emphasis on making lifestyle choices to prevent the disease occurring in the first place such as cutting down on salt intake and eating more fruit and vegetables." Mendoza said.
The WCRF has called for a "traffic-light" system for food labeling red for high, amber for medium and green for low.

NASA's WISE Survey Uncovers Millions of Black Holes

 

With its all-sky infrared survey, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has identified millions of quasar candidates. 

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission has led to a bonanza of newfound supermassive black holes and extreme galaxies called hot DOGs, or dust-obscured galaxies.
Images from the telescope have revealed millions of dusty black hole candidates across the universe and about 1,000 even dustier objects thought to be among the brightest galaxies ever found. These powerful galaxies, which burn brightly with infrared light, are nicknamed hot DOGs.
"WISE has exposed a menagerie of hidden objects," said Hashima Hasan, WISE program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We've found an asteroid dancing ahead of Earth in its orbit, the coldest star-like orbs known and now, supermassive black holes and galaxies hiding behind cloaks of dust."
WISE scanned the whole sky twice in infrared light, completing its survey in early 2011. Like night-vision goggles probing the dark, the telescope captured millions of images of the sky. All the data from the mission have been released publicly, allowing astronomers to dig in and make new discoveries.
The latest findings are helping astronomers better understand how galaxies and the behemoth black holes at their centers grow and evolve together. For example, the giant black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, called Sagittarius A*, has 4 million times the mass of our sun and has gone through periodic feeding frenzies where material falls towards the black hole, heats up and irradiates its surroundings. Bigger central black holes, up to a billion times the mass of our sun, may even shut down star formation in galaxies.
In one study, astronomers used WISE to identify about 2.5 million actively feeding supermassive black holes across the full sky, stretching back to distances more than 10 billion light-years away. About two-thirds of these objects never had been detected before because dust blocks their visible light. WISE easily sees these monsters because their powerful, accreting black holes warm the dust, causing it to glow in infrared light.
"We've got the black holes cornered," said Daniel Stern of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., lead author of the WISE black hole study and project scientist for another NASA black-hole mission, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). "WISE is finding them across the full sky, while NuSTAR is giving us an entirely new look at their high-energy X-ray light and learning what makes them tick."
In two other WISE papers, researchers report finding what are among the brightest galaxies known, one of the main goals of the mission. So far, they have identified about 1,000 candidates.
These extreme objects can pour out more than 100 trillion times as much light as our sun. They are so dusty, however, that they appear only in the longest wavelengths of infrared light captured by WISE. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope followed up on the discoveries in more detail and helped show that, in addition to hosting supermassive black holes feverishly snacking on gas and dust, these DOGs are busy churning out new stars.
"These dusty, cataclysmically forming galaxies are so rare WISE had to scan the entire sky to find them," said Peter Eisenhardt, lead author of the paper on the first of these bright, dusty galaxies, and project scientist for WISE at JPL. "We are also seeing evidence that these record setters may have formed their black holes before the bulk of their stars. The 'eggs' may have come before the 'chickens.'"
More than 100 of these objects, located about 10 billion light-years away, have been confirmed using the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, as well as the Gemini Observatory in Chile, Palomar's 200-inch Hale telescope near San Diego, and the Multiple Mirror Telescope Observatory near Tucson, Ariz.
The WISE observations, combined with data at even longer infrared wavelengths from Caltech's Submillimeter Observatory atop Mauna Kea, revealed that these extreme galaxies are more than twice as hot as other infrared-bright galaxies. One theory is their dust is being heated by an extremely powerful burst of activity from the supermassive black hole.
"We may be seeing a new, rare phase in the evolution of galaxies," said Jingwen Wu of JPL, lead author of the study on the submillimeter observations. All three papers are being published in the Astrophysical Journal.

RBSP Launches Successfully

The Atlas V carrying the twin RBSP satellite launched successfully at 4:05am EDT. Credit: NASA

NASA's twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes are on their way into orbit following their successful liftoff aboard the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The vehicle lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex-41 at 4:05 a.m. EDT following a remarkably smooth overnight countdown that saw good weather and no technical problems.

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RBSP on Pad - Launch Weather 70 Percent "Go"

08.29.12

The Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes arrives at Space Launch Complex 41 once again. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

At Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex-41, loading of the RP-1 fuel aboard the United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage was finished last night. Though it was completed late, at 9:30 p.m. EDT, due to weather conditions, launch preparations are on schedule this morning. The launch of NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) has been confirmed on the Eastern Range for 4:05 a.m. Thursday. NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is responsible for launch management.

NASA Television coverage of RBSP launch will begin at 1:30 a.m.

The terminal countdown to load the cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen into the rocket will begin at 1:35 a.m. The launch weather forecast has improved with a 30 percent chance of not meeting the launch weather criteria on Thursday morning due to cloud conditions.

RBSP L-1 Day Launch Weather Forecast

Launch Day: The Probability of Violating Launch Weather Constraints: 30%
Primary Concern: Cumulus Cloud, Thick Cloud

Hurricane Isaac is near the Louisiana coast and will slowly track Northwest and North over the next several days. Although some drying is expected today, afternoon and evening thunderstorms are expected. Over the next 24 hours, a trough pushes into South Georgia and North Florida and becomes stationary. For launch, the stalled trough to the North causes concerns for isolated showers and thick clouds during the count and window. Our primary concerns for launch Thursday morning are cumulus clouds and thick cloud. Friday, the trough washes out and easterly flow sets in causing concern for morning coastal showers. The primary concerns for launch Friday are cumulus clouds and thick cloud.

RBSP will explore changes in Earth's space environment caused by the sun -- known as space weather -- that can disable satellites, create power-grid failures and disrupt GPS service. The mission also will provide data on the fundamental radiation and particle acceleration processes throughout the universe.

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Atlas V, RBSP to Return to Launch Pad Today

08.28.12

On August 22, workers helped guide the United Launch Alliance with the Radiation Belt Storm Probes spacecraft aboard as it moved to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Activity at Space Launch Complex-41 is on schedule for the rollout of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes. First motion today is planned for 2 p.m. EDT. Once at the pad, preparations will begin for the loading of storable propellant aboard the Atlas booster. The first-stage fuel is RP-1, a highly refined kerosene. Liquid oxygen is planned to start flowing into the Atlas V when the terminal countdown begins at 1:35 a.m. on Thursday.

Liftoff is targeted for 4:05 a.m. at the start of a 20-minute window. At this time, there is a 60 percent chance favorable weather criteria at launch time, with clouds the primary concern.

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RBSP Launch Postponed Until Aug. 30

08.25.12

Screen capture from NASA TV of the Atlas V carrying RBSP on the launch pad at the time of the announcement that the launch would be scrubbed. Credit: NASA TV

The launch of an Atlas V carrying NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) payload was scrubbed today due to weather conditions associated with lightning, as well as cumulus and anvil clouds. With the unfavorable weather forecast as a result of Tropical Storm Isaac, the leadership team has decided to roll the Atlas V vehicle back to the Vertical Integration Facility to ensure the launch vehicle and twin RBSP spacecraft are secured and protected from inclement weather. Pending approval from the range, the launch is rescheduled to Thursday, Aug. 30 at 4:05 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

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Weather Scrubs RBSP Launch - Next Attempt Aug. 26

08.25.12

Unfavorable weather conditions in and around Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida prompted launch managers to halt today's attempted launch of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes.

The next launch attempt currently is scheduled for Sunday at 4:07 a.m. EDT. Launch managers will meet today at 6 a.m. to assess future launch opportunities and evaluate all of the factors, including the status of the rocket and spacecraft, and the weather. An update will be provided at the conclusion of the meeting..

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RBSP Launch Rescheduled for Aug. 25

08.24.12

Launch managers at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida have scrubbed the planned liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V carrying NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes due to an issue with Eastern Range beacon indications. The next launch attempt is scheduled for tomorrow, Aug. 25, at 4:07 a.m. EDT. Like today, the launch window will extend for 20 minutes.

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RBSP Launch Delay, Now Set for Friday, Aug. 24

The launch of an Atlas V carrying NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes satellite is being delayed 24 hours. An anomalous engine condition was identified during testing of another Atlas vehicle at the Factory in Decatur, Ala., and the delay will allow additional time for engineers to complete their assessments and verify that a similar condition does not exist on the RBSP launch vehicle engine.

The launch is rescheduled for Friday, Aug. 24 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The opening of the launch window is 4:07 a.m. EDT. The forecast for Aug. 24 shows a 60 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch.

Vitamin E may help cut liver cancer risk

High consumption of vitamin E either from diet or vitamin supplements may lower the risk of liver cancer, a new study has revealed.
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin, which is considered an antioxidant, and numerous experimental studies have suggested that vitamin E may prevent DNA damage.
Liver cancer is the third most common cause of cancer mortality in the world, the fifth most common cancer found in men and the seventh most common in women.
Approximately 85 percent of liver cancers occur in developing nations, with 54 percent in China alone.
To determine the relationship between vitamin E intake and liver cancer risk, Wei Zhang, M.D., MPH., Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, and colleagues analyzed data from a total of 132,837 individuals in China who were enrolled in the Shanghai Women’s Health Study (SWHS) from 1997-2000 or the Shanghai Men’s Health Study (SMHS) from 2002-2006, two population-based cohort studies jointly conducted by the Shanghai Cancer Institute and Vanderbilt University.
Using validated food-frequency questionnaires, the researchers conducted in-person interviews to gather data on study participants’ dietary habits.
Participants were asked how often they ate some of the most commonly consumed foods in urban Shanghai and whether they took vitamin supplements.
The investigators then compared liver cancer risk among participants who had high intake of vitamin E with those who had low intake.
The analysis included 267 liver cancer patients (118 women and 149 men) who were diagnosed between two years after study enrolment and an average of 10.9 (SWHS) or 5.5 (SMHS) years of follow-up.
Vitamin E intake from diet and vitamin E supplement use were both associated with a lower risk of liver cancer. This association was consistent among participants with and without self-reported liver disease or a family history of liver cancer.
“We found a clear, inverse dose-response relation between vitamin E intake and liver cancer risk,” the authors write, noting a small difference between men and women in the risk estimate, which is likely attributable to fewer liver cancer cases having occurred among male participants due to the shorter follow-up period.
“Overall, the take home message is that high intake of vitamin E either from diet or supplements was related to lower risk of liver cancer in middle-aged or older people from China,” Xiao Ou Shu, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Medicine at the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, said.
Conversely, participants who had the highest vitamin C intake from supplements and who had a family history of liver cancer or self-reported liver disease were more likely to develop liver cancer. There was no link to liver cancer among participants who had the highest levels of vitamin C or other vitamins from food.
The study was recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Now, a smartphone case that helps reduce cancer risk

  

 

A new smartphone case, made up of same material as NASA spacecraft, claims to reduce cellphone radiation and cancer risks as it cuts the exposure by up to 95 per cent.
Although it still remains unclear as to exactly how bad the problem of cellphone radiation is, the WHO has already reclassified it as "potentially carcinogenic for humans."
The manufacturer claims to resolve the problems associated with mobile devices of emitting microwave energy as majority of it is absorbed by the heads and bodies of phone users while making calls.
The accessory, which is available for a range of different smartphones, claims to redirect radiation away from the user and reduce exposure by up to 95 per cent.
According to the company's Chief Technology Officer, Ryan McCaughey, their invention doesn't make mere empty promises to ward off those deadly radiations, and the case has been rigorously tested to check its effectiveness.
"The scale we base our research is the industry standard of SAR, or specific absorption rate. All cell phones are measured to this standard, and what we do is compare the effect of a cellphone on SAR with and without the Pong case," McCaughey was quoted by news.com.au as saying.
"Our lab tests, including independent lab tests, which we feel are a very important validation, show that we reduce SAR by up to 95 per cent below current safety limits," he said.
But even McCaughey admitted that the smartphone case by Pong isn't a complete solution, because not enough known is yet known about how safe even small levels of radiation are.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity sends first recorded human voice

In yet another landmark achievement, NASA's Curiosity rover has sent back the first recorded human voice that traveled from Earth to another planet and back.
In spoken words radioed to the rover on Mars and back to NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) on Earth, the space agency Administrator Charles Bolden, according to a press statement, noted the difficulty of landing a rover on Mars, congratulated
NASA employees and the agency's commercial and government partners on the successful landing of Curiosity earlier this month, and said curiosity is what drives humans to explore.
"The knowledge we hope to gain from our observation and analysis of Gale Crater will tell us much about the possibility of life on Mars as well as the past and future possibilities for our own planet. Curiosity will bring benefits to Earth and inspire a new generation of scientists and explorers, as it prepares the way for a human mission in the not too distant future," Bolden said in the recorded message, released by NASA Monday.
"Since the beginning of time, humankind's curiosity has led us to constantly seek new life, new possibilities just beyond the horizon," he said.
Terming the development as another "small step" marking human presence beyond Earth, NASA Curiosity program executive Dave Lavery said it will bring the experience of exploring remote worlds a "little closer" to everyone.
"As Curiosity continues its mission, we hope these words will be an inspiration to someone alive today who will become the first to stand upon the surface of Mars. And like the great Neil Armstrong, they will speak aloud of that next giant leap in human exploration," Lavery said.
The telephoto images, taken from the 100-millimetre telephoto lens and the 34-milllimetre wide angle lens of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument, beamed back to Earth show a scene of eroded knobs and gulches on a mountainside, with geological layering clearly exposed.
Mastcam has photographed the lower slope of the nearby mountain called Mount Sharp.
"This is an area on Mount Sharp where Curiosity will go," said Mastcam principal investigator Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.
"Those layers are our ultimate objective. The dark dune field is between us and those layers. In front of the dark sand you see redder sand, with a different composition
suggested by its different colour. The rocks in the foreground show diversity some rounded, some angular, with different histories. This is a very rich geological site to look at and eventually to drive through," Malin said.
NASA officials said a drive early yesterday placed Curiosity directly over a patch where one of the spacecraft's landing engines scoured away a few inches of gravelly soil and exposed underlying rock.
Researchers plan to use a neutron-shooting instrument on the rover to check for water molecules bound into minerals at this partially excavated target, they said.
Curiosity, which is three weeks into a two-year prime mission on Mars, will use 10 science instruments to assess whether the selected study area ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, NASA officials said.

NASA's Kepler Discovers Multiple Planets Orbiting a Pair of Stars

 

 
Sharing the Light of Two Suns: This artist's concept illustrates Kepler-47, the first transiting circumbinary system.

 
Orbiting in the Habitable Zone of Two Suns: This diagram compares our own solar system to Kepler-47, a double-star system containing two planets, one orbiting in the so-called "habitable zone."
 
The planets Kepler-47b and Kepler-47c: Kepler-47b has three times the radius of earth and orbits the pair of stars in less than 50 days while Kepler-47c is thought to be a gaseous giant, slightly larger than Neptune with an orbital period of 303 days.

Coming less than a year after the announcement of the first circumbinary planet, Kepler-16b, NASA's Kepler mission has discovered multiple transiting planets orbiting two suns for the first time. This system, known as a circumbinary planetary system, is 4,900 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.

This discovery proves that more than one planet can form and persist in the stressful realm of a binary star and demonstrates the diversity of planetary systems in our galaxy.

Astronomers detected two planets in the Kepler-47 system, a pair of orbiting stars that eclipse each other every 7.5 days from our vantage point on Earth. One star is similar to the sun in size, but only 84 percent as bright. The second star is diminutive, measuring only one-third the size of the sun and less than 1 percent as bright.

"In contrast to a single planet orbiting a single star, the planet in a circumbinary system must transit a 'moving target.' As a consequence, time intervals between the transits and their durations can vary substantially, sometimes short, other times long," said Jerome Orosz, associate professor of astronomy at San Diego State University and lead author of the paper. "The intervals were the telltale sign these planets are in circumbinary orbits."

The inner planet, Kepler-47b, orbits the pair of stars in less than 50 days. While it cannot be directly viewed, it is thought to be a sweltering world, where the destruction of methane in its super-heated atmosphere might lead to a thick haze that could blanket the planet. At three times the radius of Earth, Kepler-47b is the smallest known transiting circumbinary planet.

The outer planet, Kepler-47c, orbits its host pair every 303 days, placing it in the so-called "habitable zone," the region in a planetary system where liquid water might exist on the surface of a planet. While not a world hospitable for life, Kepler-47c is thought to be a gaseous giant slightly larger than Neptune, where an atmosphere of thick bright water-vapor clouds might exist.

"Unlike our sun, many stars are part of multiple-star systems where two or more stars orbit one another. The question always has been -- do they have planets and planetary systems? This Kepler discovery proves that they do," said William Borucki, Kepler mission principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "In our search for habitable planets, we have found more opportunities for life to exist."

To search for transiting planets, the research team used data from the Kepler space telescope, which measures dips in the brightness of more than 150,000 stars. Additional ground-based spectroscopic observations using telescopes at the McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas at Austin helped characterize the stellar properties. The findings are published in the journal Science.

"The presence of a full-fledged circumbinary planetary system orbiting Kepler-47 is an amazing discovery," said Greg Laughlin, professor of Astrophysics and Planetary Science at the University of California in Santa Cruz. "These planets are very difficult to form using the currently accepted paradigm, and I believe that theorists, myself included, will be going back to the drawing board to try to improve our understanding of how planets are assembled in dusty circumbinary disks."

Ames manages Kepler's ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., managed the Kepler mission development.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., developed the Kepler flight system and supports mission operations with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore archives, hosts and distributes Kepler science data. Kepler is NASA's tenth Discovery Mission and funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington.

Sugar found in space around a Sun-like star

A team of astronomers have spotted sugar molecules in the gas surrounding a young Sun-like star.
Researchers led by Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) found sugar in space around such a star for the first time.
The astronomers found molecules of glycolaldehyde – a simple form of sugar in the gas surrounding a young binary star, with similar mass to the Sun, called IRAS 16293-2422.
IRAS 16293-2422 is located around 400 light-years away, comparatively close to Earth.
"In the disc of gas and dust surrounding this newly formed star, we found glycolaldehyde, which is a simple form of sugar, not much different to the sugar we put in coffee," Jes Jorgensen , the lead author of the paper, said.
"This molecule is one of the ingredients in the formation of RNA, which - like DNA, to which it is related - is one of the building blocks of life," Jorgensen said in a statement.
Glycolaldehyde has been seen in interstellar space before, but this is the first time it has been found so near to a Sun-like star, at distances comparable to the distance of Uranus from the Sun in the Solar System.
This discovery shows that some of the chemical compounds needed for life existed in this system at the time of planet formation.
"What it is really exciting about our findings is that the ALMA observations reveal that the sugar molecules are falling in towards one of the stars of the system," team member Cecile Favre from Aarhus University in Denmark, said.
"The sugar molecules are not only in the right place to find their way onto a planet, but they are also going in the right direction," Favre said.
The study will be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

NASA CURIOSITY  :

Rover Leaves Tracks in Morse Code

 

This image shows a close-up of track marks from the first test drive of NASA's Curiosity rover. 

The straight lines in Curiosity's zigzag track marks are Morse code for JPL, which is short for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., where the rover was built and the mission is managed. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech




NASA's Curiosity rover took its first test stroll Wednesday Aug. 22, 2012, and beamed back pictures of its accomplishment in the form of track marks in the Martian soil. Careful inspection of the tracks reveals a unique, repeating pattern, which the rover can use as a visual reference to drive more accurately in barren terrain. The pattern is Morse code for JPL, the abbreviation for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., where the rover was designed and built, and the mission is managed.
"The purpose of the pattern is to create features in the terrain that can be used to visually measure the precise distance between drives," said Matt Heverly, the lead rover driver for Curiosity at JPL.
This driving tool, called visual odometry, allows the rover to use images of landscape features to determine if it has traveled as far as predicted, or if its wheels have slipped. For example, when the rover drives on high slopes or across loose soil, it will routinely stop to check its progress. By measuring its distance relative to dozens of prominent features like pebbles or shadows on rocks -- or patterns in its tracks -- the rover can check how much its wheels may have slipped. If Curiosity has not slipped too much, it can then re-plan the next leg of its drive, taking its actual position into account.
"Visual odometry will enable Curiosity to drive more accurately even in high-slip terrains, aiding its science mission by reaching interesting targets in fewer sols, running slip checks to stop before getting too stuck, and enabling precise driving," said rover driver Mark Maimone, who led the development of the rover's autonomous driving software.
The Morse code imprinted on all six wheels will be particularly handy when the terrain is barren. Curiosity won't be able to read the Morse code symbols in the track marks directly, but it will note that the pattern is a high-contrast feature. This will give the rover the anchor it needs in an otherwise featureless terrain.
"Imagine standing in front of a picket fence, and then closing your eyes and shifting to the side. When you open your eyes, you wouldn't be able to tell how many pickets you passed. If you had one picket that was a different shape though, you could always use that picket as your reference," said Heverly. "With Curiosity, it's a similar problem in featureless terrain like sand dunes. The hole pattern in the wheels gives us one 'big picket' to look at."
NASA's Mars Exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity also used visual odometry to ensure accurate driving in difficult terrains. Their wheels had been bolted to their landing platform, leaving holes that left distinguishing marks in their tracks. Those marks proved critical for the visual odometry system on Opportunity when it traversed the relatively featureless terrain at Meridian Planum. Opportunity is still trekking on Mars more than eight years after setting down on the Red Planet.
Curiosity likewise has holes in its wheels, only in the shape of Morse code letters.
"Even though Curiosity didn't need to be bolted down, we wanted to have the holes anyway. The mechanical team suggested multiple smaller holes rather than one large one like the Mars Exploration Rovers had, and one earlier design had spelled out letters in a cleat pattern, so I proposed using a Morse code version," said Maimone. "And the rest is history."

India aims to crack methane mystery with Mars mission

India proposed mission to Mars in November next year will attempt to crack the "methane mystery", a veteran space scientist has hinted.
Speaking to PTI here, former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, Prof U R Rao noted that when the country undertook the Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission, "we didn't know we are going to detect water (on the moon)."
"First time it has happened (detecting water on the moon) in spite of the fact that we were a late entrant (on exploring moon)," said Rao, a globally respected figure in the field of space.
Rao, Chairman of the selection committee which finalised experiments to be conducted vis-à-vis the Mars orbiter mission, said: "We have selected very good experiments. One of the experiments is essentially to look for methane, where the methane comes from (what could be producing methane gas detected in the Martian atmosphere)."
He said there are many open questions vis-à-vis the Red planet. Right now, there is life only on earth. "Venus is so near to earth, yet it's so inhospitable. Mars is so near to the earth, yet it has very, very thin atmosphere, very little of oxygen. Mars has some magnetic materials all over but it does not have a magnetic field, why? There is very little known of Mars," Rao observed.
Rao said Mars has a great amount of relevance because
in about "500 years or lesser, we might be able to use Mars as a resource for earth."
"We are running out of resources in the world," he said. "There are many people who believe Mars can be made hospitable and of course it requires a lot of efforts."
ISRO aims to do quite a good number of scientific experiments with its Mars mission.
"Some experiments have been selected and some are on the waiting list. The weight capability is not high. Total weight of the experiments selected can't be more than 15 kg," he added.
According to ISRO officials, the cost of the proposed unmanned Mars orbiter mission is Rs 450 crore. The orbiter is planned to be launched using India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Nasa rover Curiosity moves closer to mission’s ultimate driving destination

On Tuesday, NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity drove eastward about 52 feet (16 meters), beginning its journey towards a science destination about a quarter-mile (400 meters) away, where it may begin using its drill.
This third drive was longer than Curiosity’s first two drives combined. The previous drives tested the mobility system and positioned the rover to examine an area scoured by exhaust from one of the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft engines that placed the rover on the ground.
“This drive really begins our journey toward the first major driving destination, Glenelg, and it’s nice to see some Martian soil on our wheels,” said mission manager Arthur Amador of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.
“The drive went beautifully, just as our rover planners designed it,” he stated.
Glenelg is a location where three types of terrain intersect.
Curiosity’s science team chose it as a likely place to find a first rock target for drilling and analysis.
“We are on our way, though Glenelg is still many weeks away. We plan to stop for just a day at the location we just reached, but in the next week or so we will make a longer stop,” said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena.
During the longer stop at a site still to be determined, Curiosity will test its robotic arm and the contact instruments at the end of the arm.
At the location reached Tuesday, Curiosity’s Mast Camera (Mastcam) will collect a set of images toward the mission’s ultimate driving destination, the lower slope of nearby Mount Sharp.
A mosaic of images from the current location will be used along with the Mastcam images of the mountain taken at the spot where Curiosity touched down, Bradbury Landing. This stereo pair taken about 33 feet (10 meters) apart will provide three-dimensional information about distant features and possible driving routes.
Curiosity is three weeks into a two-year prime mission on Mars. It will use 10 science instruments to assess whether the selected study area ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUESTION

ANSWER THIS QUESTION TO SHOW YOUR ABILITY

FROM GENERAL SCIENCE

1.	Brass gets discoloured in air because of the presence of which of the following gases in air?
	A. Oxygen B. Hydrogen sulphide C. Carbon dioxide D. Nitrogen

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2.	Which of the following is a non metal that remains liquid at room temperature?
	A. Phosphorous B. Bromine C. Chlorine D. Helium

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3.	Chlorophyll is a naturally occurring chelate compound in which central metal is
	A. copper B. magnesium C. iron D. calcium

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4.	Which of the following is used in pencils?
	A. Graphite B. Silicon C. Charcoal D. Phosphorous

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5.	Which of the following metals forms an amalgam with other metals?
	A. Tin B. Mercury C. Lead D. Zinc